Hydrant tool



May 19, 1931.

C. B. GREEN HYDRANT TOOL Filed March 22, 1930 INEA/TOR.- Cjzafles- Green,

BY ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 19, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE CHARLES B. GREEN, 0F FLORENCE, NEW' JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO FLORENCE :PIPE FOUNDRY & MACHINE COIVIPANY, OF FLORENCE, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY EYDRANT TOOL My invention relates to hydrant tools and has particular relation to a type of wrench adaptedto remove a section of a broken hydrant barrel from a damaged fire 'hydrant to facilitate the repair of the hydrant.

Fire hydrants are customarily situated at or near the curbs of city streets. With the immense increase in the volume of tratlic passing daily through the streets of towns and cities, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of accidents to hydrants caused by automobiles, trucks and the like striking the same.' It frequently happens that a hydrant barrel severed at or below the pavement line, in which case the hydrant cannot be repaired without breaking the pavement and digging a hole, which must frequently be made large enough to render the shoe .or lower end of the hydrant accessible. rIhe shoe of a hydrant is ordinarily at a considerable distance below th-e pavement line, and accordingly it is a laborious and expensive .operation to replace the broken section. A hydrant barrel can normally be removed and replaced by turning it to unseat its lower threaded end from the shoe in which it is engaged, but when the barrel is severed near the pavement line, it cannot be gripped firmly enough to turn it within its shoe.

My invention has for its principal object the provision of a tool adapted to grip firmly a broken section oic a hydrant barrel so as to permit the turning of the barrel even though the fracture is below the pavement line. My invention thus materially reduces the time and labor of repairing accidents to hydrants of the nature described.

In the drawings I have illustrated an embodiment of my invention in the form of a wrench. Of the drawings:

Fig. I isa plan view of the tool which I preferably employ.

Fig. II is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. III is a view partlyin section and partly in outline of a fire hydrant with its barrel severed near the pavement line and showing the tool of Figs. I and II applied therein.

Fig. IV is a cross section of a fire hydrant barrel of relatively large diameter with the tool inserted, as indicated by lines IV-IV in III; and,

Fig. V is a cross-section of a Vfire hydrant of relatively small diameter with the tool inserted.

IVith particular reference to Fig. III, it will be readily seen that if the barrel 1 of the tire hydrant 2 is severed below the pavement line 16, as at 3, the removal of the barrel becomes a matter of considerable diiiiculty. Heretofore it has been the customary practice toexcavate around the fire hydrant to a depth suflicient to render accessible the upper end of the section of the barrel 1 vremaining in the tire hydrant, and it has frequently been necessary to dig down as far as the shoe 1l.

The lpreferred form of tool which I provide for eliminating the necessity of excavation is shown in Figs. I and II. It comprises two tubesor hollow cylindrical members 5 and 6, the smaller tube 6 tting within the larger tube 5 and the tubes being free to turn with respect toeach other. At the lower end of each tube there is shown` a wedge'shaped jaw 7, 8 interiorly threaded to engage corresponding threads on'the tube. To maintain the jaws 7 and 8 locked on the tubes 5 and 6, I solder or weld the jaws at 9. At the upper end of the large tube 5 I provide a hexagonal nut 10 engaging threads on the tube 5 and soldered or welded at 11. A similar but smaller nut 12 is screwed Onto the upper end of the small tube 6 and locked thereto by peening the edge 13 of the tube 6. The two ltubes 5 and 6 are thus held together with sufficient clearance between them to allow them to be turned about each other.

On the large nut 10 I preferably employ a pair Iof socket wrenches 14 placed with their handles opposite each other so that the operator may grip each handle and turn the tube 5 while maintaining it in vertical alignment. An additional wrench 15, such as shown in Figs. I and II, may be used on the nut 12 for the initial operation of locking the jaws. Once the jaws 7 and 8 are locked within the barrel 1, the barrel can be turned by the wrenches 14.

The operation of my novel hydrant tool is as follows: The broken lire hydrant is first disassembled so that access may be had to the barrel l. rlhe upper parts of the hydrant including the broken section of the barrel are removed until nothing projects above the pavement except the stock ii' and valve rod 1S. At this point the tool is inserted within the barrel l with its inner tube 6 surrounding the valve rod 1S (the valve rod, though frequently bent by accidents is seldon broken) and its jaws 7, 8 extending down into the lower end of the barrel. By means of the wrenches le and l5, the jaws 7 and 8 are turned with respect to each other until they becomewedged against the inner surface of the barrel.

It will be noted that the tubes and 6 are adapted to be eccentricaliy accommodated within the hydrant barrel l around the valve stem 18, and that the sum of the effective radii of the two jaws 7 and 8 (the effective radius of each being measured by the distance from the center of the tube to the biting edges of the jaw) is greater than the inside diameter of the hydrant barrel l. AC- cordingly with the tool eccentrically disposed within the hydrant barrel l, relative turning of the tubes 5 and G expands or contracts the jaws 7 and 8 to engage or disengage the inner cylindrical surface of the barrel. Furthermore, the diameters of the tubes 5 and 6 and the effective radii of the jaws 7 and 8 are so proportioned that the relative turning of the aws 7 and 8 within the hydrant barrel i will not place an undue strain upon the valve stem 18.

In the ease of a barrel of relatively small diameter the jaws 7 and 8 will engage the barrel when turned through a very small angle, as shown in Fig. V, whereas with a barrel of large diameter the jaws must be turned through an angle of nearly 180, as shown in Fig. IV. In either case they may be made to grip firmly the inner surface of the barrel. lhen the barrel l is thus engaged by the tool the operator grips the handles of the wrenches 14 and turns the barrel to unseat it from the shoe. A new barrel may then be substituted and the hydrant reassembled.

It will be apparent that the tool when used as described Vpermits the removal of the lower broken barrel section without the necessity of disturbing the pavement, the level .of which is indicated at 16, and thus eect avery material saving in the time and labor required to perform the operation.

lVhile I have described a'preferred form of tool embodying my invention, it will be readily appreciated that changes may be made in the form of the tool without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the claims hereto appended.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. A tool for turning hydrant barrels comprising a pair of tubes fitting one within the other and adapted to be eccentrieally accommodated within the barrel to be turned, jaws mounted at the lower end of each tube, and means at the upper end of each tube whereby the tubes may be gripped for relative turning to expand the jaws into biting engagement with the barrel.

2. A tool for turning hydrant barrels Comprising a pair of tubes fitting one within the other and adapted to be eccentrically accommodated around a valve rod and within the barrel to be turned, jaws mounted at the lower end of each tube, the sum of the effective radii of the jaws being greater than the inside diameter of the barrel to be turned, and means at the upper end of each tube whereby the tubes may be gripped for relative turning to expand the aws into biting engagement with the barrel.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Florence, New Jersey, this 22nd day of February, 1930.

CHARLES B. GREEN. 

